Dawn is coming, and the moment of decisive battle is coming.
If the Hunan Army took advantage of the darkness before dawn to leave the city through the west gate, some of them might be able to escape back to Changsha.
It was now broad daylight, and under the blockade of the cavalry, no one could escape unless they had wings.
The purpose of the Second Division's battle was to quickly reach the city walls of Changsha and blockade Changsha from the road.
Afterwards, whether it is besieging the city for reinforcements or capturing Changsha, the Renaissance Army will be able to take the initiative.
This is the goal set by Peng Yulin for the Second Division. As for the water, Gu Keli doesn't need to worry about it.
Peng Yulin knew that the Hunan Army was very territorial and very conservative, and would not give in easily. Zeng Guofan was a stubborn person, and the only things that could separate him from the Qing court were his hometown and the life and death of his soldiers.
Therefore, the Hunan Army is the most powerful enemy that the Central Route Army has to face.
At the beginning, the Hunan Army had only 13 battalions with a total of 6,500 people. After construction in the past two years, the total number of the Hunan Army has reached more than 30,000. Many battalion heads have more than 500 people, but are divided into front, middle, rear, left and right.
, so although the number of Hunan Army general battalions has not increased, the number of people has increased several times.
The Hunan Army guarding Changsha Prefecture, in addition to the elite "Ji" battalion, also had a 2,000-horse team from the "Shun" battalion, which was the only cavalry in the Hunan Army.
In addition, there are 4,000 people from the Jingyi Battalion stationed in Fucheng, Changsha.
In addition to the three battalions following Zeng Guoquan from the "Ji" camp, there were three battalions left in Changsha.
In addition, there is Luo Zenan's newly built Wuying Navy in Xiangyin, with a total of 2,500 people.
The Hunan Army also has an ace "Ting" battalion currently stationed in Yongzhou to monitor the Taiping Army in Guangxi.
The "Ting" camp was led by Bao Chao.
After the Jiangnan Camp was destroyed, Bao Chao fled back to Hunan and joined the Hunan Army. Because of his outstanding performance, he became the commander-in-chief of the "Ting" battalion, with a total of 3,500 people in the battalion.
In addition, there are some battalions stationed in various parts of Hunan.
Zeng Guofan now has 3,000 troops in Changsha's "Ji" battalion, 2,000 cavalry in the "Shun" battalion, 4,000 troops in the Jingyi battalion, and 2,000 newly built naval forces. If necessary, he can go upstream along the Xiangjiang River to do so.
Artillery support.
In addition, Changsha Prefecture still has about 20,000 original city defense battalions scattered in various counties. However, these troops have little combat power.
They can only be used to defend the city. Zeng Guofan would not dare to use them in field battles.
Back in Liling City, Zheng Shen had already led his people to build a barricade. The door panels were stacked layer by layer across the street. The door panels were directly removed from the shops on both sides, and the owner had no idea where to hide.
After removing the door panels, the shop doors on both sides open in the middle, which is perfect for hiding soldiers.
Zeng Guoquan finally led his men through the gap left behind and retreated to the back of the barricade.
Zheng Shen quickly blocked the gap. The special operations battalion did not continue to advance, but waited in place for the arrival of the large force.
Gu Keli came to the top of the city, took out his binoculars and looked at the barricades built by the Hunan Army. The corners of his mouth slightly raised.
"Let the first regiment go forward and replace the special operations battalion. Their mission has been completed. Let the third regiment go around and build blockades outside the west gate, and the second regiment go to the north gate to blockade." Gu Keli said to the ordering soldier.
The space inside was so small that it simply couldn't accommodate many troops. Gu Keli simply dispersed the troops to seal it off. He was so willful that he had enough troops.
A few minutes later, the 1st Regiment of the Second Division entered the city and advanced towards the barricade. However, they stopped outside the range of the rifle.
The soldiers stood on guard, as if waiting for something.
"Why don't they leave?" Zheng Shen asked.
"Go and send two people to the roof to see if they want to use artillery." Zeng Guoquan reacted faster and was the first to think that the enemy might use artillery.
After a while, two Hunan Army soldiers, one on the left and one on the right, skillfully climbed to the top of the houses on both sides.
"General, there are no artillery." The two soldiers knew it at a glance. As big as the artillery was, it was impossible for them not to see it when it was pulled from the street.
"Huh? They are installing a small cannon, some like a squatting tiger cannon." Another Hunan Army soldier added.
In fact, the Hunan Army has not yet achieved direct results with the Renaissance Army, and has not experienced the Renaissance Army's mortars.
The size of the mortar is indeed very similar to the Crouching Tiger Cannon. The Crouching Tiger Cannon also has a bracket. From a distance, the two are indeed very similar. Coupled with the knowledge of the soldiers of the Hunan Army, it is not surprising that he made this judgment.
After hearing the report from the soldiers upstairs, Zeng Guoquan felt slightly relaxed. He estimated that the Huaihai Navy on the opposite side might have to wait for the number of people to gather before launching a group charge. In this case, the Hunan Army's firepower density might not be enough to block the charge.
But Zeng Guoquan had already divided his soldiers into five teams. The three rows of soldiers in front were divided into three heights so that they could shoot at the same time. The width of the street could ensure that more than 90 guns could fire at the same time.
After the shooting, the soldiers behind directly put the loaded rifles into their hands, which was faster than taking turns shooting back and forth. In addition, some soldiers climbed onto the shops on both sides and looked toward the east street from the window.
Shoot on top.
Basically all shooting angles have been utilized.
"Isn't the Huai Navy claimed to be invincible? Today they have to bear the wrath of the Hunan Army. As long as they can severely damage the Huai Navy today, the Hunan Army will be famous." Zeng Guoquan thought in his heart.
He had been to Yangzhou before and knew that the Huaihai Navy was very proud. Today he was going to see what the capital of their pride was.
The waiting was excruciating. The Huaihai Navy on the opposite side kept making preparations for an attack, but it never moved.
The Hunan Army was a little anxious. In a duel with a master, the master never drew his sword. How could this not make people feel guilty?
Dozens of breaths have passed and Huai Haijun has not moved yet. Are they really going to use the Crouching Tiger Cannon to deal with him?
The more Zeng Guoquan thought about it, the more something was wrong. The squatting tiger cannon had a very short range and was not as far as the muskets in their hands. And so far, the cannon on the opposite side had not been moved to the front.
While he was thinking, "Bang bang bang..." a slightly low sound of artillery sounded.
Immediately afterwards, shells fell one after another on the front, back, left and right of the barricade.
Boom! The explosion sounded, Zeng Guoquan's ears rang, and the groans of his soldiers came from beside him.
The sound of artillery continued, and the soldiers of the Hunan Army who were not prepared at all were caught off guard. Their originally neat and dense formation was blown to pieces by mortar shells.
The barricades that were finally erected were blown into pieces of wood and scattered in all directions. Many of the pieces of wood were inserted into the bodies of the soldiers. They became accomplices in killing and wounding the soldiers of the Hunan Army.
"Evacuate to the house." Zeng Guoquan endured the pain of dizziness and shouted to the surrounding Hunan soldiers.
He didn't know what kind of cannon the Huai Navy used, but he had clearly seen the effect of this cannon.
At this time, the best choice is to retreat to the houses on both sides.
Before the sound of artillery stopped, a group of soldiers had already begun to charge. They held rifles and shot while advancing.
The rushing whistle of the attack and the soldiers' shouts of killing resounded throughout the county.
Some of the surviving Hunan soldiers heard Zeng Guoquan's order and hid in the shops on both sides.
Some soldiers were so panicked by the bombing that they turned around and ran toward the west city.
These people soon fell on the retreating road.
As the Renaissance Army advanced, the Hunan Army hiding in the building began to shoot at the Renaissance Army.
Someone fell on the way forward. Some Renaissance Army soldiers stopped and fired at the Hunan Army who poked their heads out, covering their teammates for the forward assault.
Although the Huaihai Navy's rifles have no advantage in range, their accuracy is much higher than that of the Hunan Army's front-loading rifles.
The reloading speed of muzzle-loading guns means that if they are not used in groups, their lethality will not be too great. Although they can cause damage to the Renaissance Army, their numbers are limited.
Hiding in a shop, Zheng Shen suggested to Zeng Guoquan in disgrace: "General, the weapons of the Huaihai Navy are too weird. The cannons are full of explosive shells and can also turn. Their rifles can fire continuously."
"This war is not a crime of war."
"General, my subordinates are willing to stay and cover your retreat."
"No, Su Shen, let's go together and retreat from the path towards the west gate."
Zeng Guoquan also saw that he really couldn't defeat the Huai Haijun gang.
He's not stupid enough to stay here and die.
Now retreat to the west city gate. There are thousands of city defense camps there. Although they are all useless, they should be able to hold up for a few minutes.
On the street, soldiers of the Renaissance Army moved forward close to both sides of the street, covering each other on the left and right. When they saw an open shop, they first said hello with a grenade, and then the assault hand holding a shotgun went in to clean up the remaining Hunan troops.
Cleaning the houses one by one, although it is a bit slow, will eventually clear out all the remaining Hunan troops.
Zeng Guoquan took Zheng Shen and the men who were following him, broke open the back door of the shop, ran into the alley, and then fled along the alley towards the west gate.
There were also some clever Hunan soldiers who ran over in the same way.
Ximen was still in the city defense camp. When he arrived at the city gate, Zeng Guoquan got his fast horse and led his men straight out of the city.
They didn't even explain it to the city defense camp.
The commander of the city defense camp was too angry to say anything. Zeng Guoquan was the governor's younger brother. Who dared to offend him?
The brothers in the city defense battalion only saw artillery fire in the city, and the gunfire continued. Those Hunan troops who stayed behind did not receive orders and continued to resist.
When I saw Zeng Guoquan leaving the city, I thought he was going to outflank him!
Not long after, the city defense battalion finally understood why General Zeng rode out of the city.
They had already seen a red golden dragon flag and soldiers in colorful military uniforms charging towards the city gate tower. Obviously the "Ji" camp had been defeated, otherwise the opponent would not have rushed here.
"What the fuck, let me stay here to die and run away by myself. This Zeng Laojiu is also a coward." The commander of the city defense camp cursed in his heart.
"Brothers, surrender." I stopped fighting.
It is better to surrender late than to surrender early! Why suffer unnecessary casualties if you can't defeat them?
When the group approached the west city gate and prepared to fire a few cannons at the tower to say hello, the defenders on the tower did not give the Renaissance Army this chance.
A bamboo pole stretched out from the top of the city, with a white flag hanging from it.
"We are willing to surrender!" the commander at the top of the city asked his men to shout together.
That sound could be clearly heard by the Renaissance soldiers hundreds of meters away.
Yi Tuan had been holding back his anger and was planning to release it at the west city gate, but the defenders showed up.
The final kick was forced back.
Thousands of defenders came down from the city tower and the walls on both sides with their heads held in their hands, squatting in rows on the ground.
The soldiers of the Fuxing Army did not have a good look on this group of Qing soldiers. They cursed and escorted them into the school grounds and imprisoned them.
Zeng Guoquan was not caught when we were cleaning the streets just now. The head of the regiment knew that this person must have run away.
However, a large net had already caught them outside the city. It was not the regiment's responsibility to pursue the fleeing enemies.
Their task was to quickly sort out the city and prepare to hand it over to the garrison troops following behind.
At noon, the city had been cleaned up, and soldiers were cleaning the streets. Some shops were damaged in the battle just now, and some military clerks led people to go to the victims to count the losses.
Although many of them were destroyed by the Hunan Army, the Fuxing Army was still prepared to provide certain subsidies to the victims.
This is very shocking. No army has ever compensated the victims for destroying houses during wars.
But the Fuxing Army did it. In fact, the cost of such a thing was not large. The compensation was not compensation, and the money used was collected from the county government.
However, after such a thing is done, the effect will be surprisingly good, and the people will consciously spread the word about such a thing, which will play an important role in the local rule of the Renaissance Army in the future.
Naturally, Zeng Guoquan did not escape. If he had escaped on foot, he might have been able to escape through the mountains and ridges. However, he led his men to escape on horseback. The target was too big and he could not escape the Huaihai Navy's blockade.
There was a cavalry regiment waiting for them outside the city. Finally, Zeng Guoquan, who was surrounded by cavalry, gave up his resistance.
He had also met Dong Shuheng, the leader of Huai Haijun, and it was certain that Huai Haijun would not kill him.
After Zeng Guoquan was captured, the Liling Battle came to a successful conclusion.
Gu Keli immediately ordered the cavalry regiment to advance toward Changsha and occupy the market towns along the way.
Changsha Prefecture has one state and eleven counties. Liling is located in the southwest of the prefecture. It controls the important passage on the Luoxiao Mountains. Conquering this place is equivalent to opening the east gate to Hunan and even the entire southwest region.
Fucheng is located in Changsha County, on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River. Therefore, if the Second Division wants to surround Fucheng in Changsha, it must also occupy Xiangtan in the south, which happens to control the upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River and on the side of the land road between Liling and Changsha.
Even Liuyang County in the east of Changsha Prefecture was occupied by the Second Division.
After the cavalry set off, Gu Keli ordered the engineer battalion, artillery regiment and the second regiment to follow closely and march towards Xiangtan.
At the same time, the third regiment was ordered to attack Liuyang. Liuyang was located in a corner area and was not a strategic location. The number of Qing troops was not large.
Gu Keli waited here for the garrison to come and receive Liling. Liling's position was still very important, and the Qing army in Chaling in the south might counterattack, so Gu Keli decided to put a garrison here.
Commander-in-Chief Peng Yulin has already made arrangements for the areas west of the Xiangjiang River and north of Changsha.
Peng Yulin's purpose was very clear, to surround Changsha and force Zeng Guofan to surrender. By then, with Zeng Guofan's influence in Hunan, other places could be conquered.
ps: I won’t say anything else, just ask for votes!